Rains Stephen A, Tukachinsky Riva
a Department of Communication , University of Arizona.
Health Commun. 2015;30(4):339-49. doi: 10.1080/10410236.2013.858285. Epub 2014 Jun 6.
Uncertainty management theory (UMT; Brashers, 2001, 2007) is rooted in the assumption that, as opposed to being inherently negative, health-related uncertainty is appraised for its meaning. Appraisals influence subsequent behaviors intended to manage uncertainty, such as information seeking. This study explores the connections among uncertainty, appraisal, and information-seeking behavior proposed in UMT. A laboratory study was conducted in which participants (N = 157) were primed to feel and desire more or less uncertainty about skin cancer and were given the opportunity to search for skin cancer information using the World Wide Web. The results show that desired uncertainty level predicted appraisal intensity, and appraisal intensity predicted information-seeking depth-although the latter relationship was in the opposite direction of what was expected.
不确定性管理理论（UMT；布拉舍斯，2001年，2007年）基于这样一种假设：与本质上具有负面性相反，与健康相关的不确定性会根据其意义进行评估。评估会影响随后旨在管理不确定性的行为，比如信息寻求。本研究探讨了不确定性管理理论中所提出的不确定性、评估和信息寻求行为之间的联系。进行了一项实验室研究，其中参与者（N = 157）被引导对皮肤癌感到或多或少的不确定性并希望有更多或更少的不确定性，并且有机会使用万维网搜索皮肤癌信息。结果表明，期望的不确定性水平预测了评估强度，而评估强度预测了信息寻求深度——尽管后一种关系与预期的方向相反。
